


You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch

by lately (aeggyu)



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: Christmas Party, Fluff and Crack, Hate to Love, Kinda, M/M, Mistletoe, Strangers to Lovers, more like 'from mildly knowing each other to midly knowing each other more'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 11:23:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13165896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeggyu/pseuds/lately
Summary: Woohyun ends up kissing Sunggyu under the mistletoe approximately three (3) times. To bad he's too focused on running away after that to notice Sunggyu might not kill him for it.(The title has little to do with the story.)





	You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gogyuma](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gogyuma/gifts).



> I'm sorry this is so late, but I hope you like it! Happy (belated) Christmas!!
> 
> Prompt (Spoiler-ish): Sunggyu attends his friend's Christmas party, where he manages to meet Woohyun (who he's only seen around the school/company they work at a few times but doesn't really know) underneath the mistletoe THREE times. The first time, Woohyun kisses his hand. The second time, Woohyun kisses his cheeks. The third time.... well, up to you (:

… _Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock_ …

Woohyun rubs his temples as he unconsciously mumbles along with the song, which he has heard countless times and at this point will haunt his dreams for the rest of the year. The company’s idea of festive should involve more than one out-dated Christmas album with like, five songs, in all honesty.

Not even the sound of his electric blanket (which to think of it, should have been replaced ever since it charred his pants a bit) or Sungjong’s loud bubble-gum chewing can overshadow the holiday theme.

“Wow, you really like that song,” Sungjong says after popping a green-colored bubble, placing a coffee on Woohyun’s desk.

“Why do you say that?” he asks, trying to focus on the report he’s working on.

“You’re always mumbling along with it,” the young errand boy replies. “We all kinda hate you for it.”

Woohyun groans. “I can’t help it! It’s so catchy! But I’m starting to hate myself too.”

“Too bad we’re probably going to keep hearing it even during Sungjong’s party,” Sungyeol pipes in from his desk in front of Woohyun’s. “Speaking of which, Jongie, what am I supposed to bring?”

“Were you just waiting for a convenient opportunity to bring this up?” Sungjong asks, raising his eyebrows.

“I literally don’t know what to get.”

“I was thinking of bringing wine,” Woohyun replies. “Wait, can we bring wine or do you have that covered already?”

Sungjong shrugs. “Sunggyu is helping out so… Yeah, he’s got that covered.”

At the mention of Sunggyu, the head of the Sales department, Woohyun feels a headache start to bloom. Not too long after, Sungyeol groans.

“You invited him too? I’ve been to a couple of parties organized by the Sales department and they all suck,” the tall employee wines. “A couple of years ago they made it this,”—he moves his fingers to make air quotes-”’Co-worker Relationship Improving Workshop’ to justify a party, which only lasted like two hours and it was horrible.”

“Hmm, but those are office matters. My cousin can be a dictator, but I don’t think he is on that level of evil.“ Leaning on the desk, Sungjong nudges Woohyun. “Though it looks like that could be useful this year, right? Especially for you.”

Woohyun buries his face in his hands. “Shut up.”

He pretends not to listen to Sungyeol’s snorting laughter.

“Right, I can’t believe I forgot how paranoid you are about him.”

“Why do we have to talk about this?” Woohyun asks, but muffled by his hands it only sounds like a bunch of consonantal sounds strung together.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, as long as you don’t cross paths with him, what’s the worst that can happen?”

\---

The mistletoe.

Sunggyu and Woohyun standing under the mistletoe.

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

But maybe it’s time to back up a bit.

So… Sungjong’s party.

Well, it’s an alright thing. Proper amount of food, nice drinks, and a semi-professional band playing in the background. Yes, they’re still playing Jingle Bell Rock, but in all honesty, Woohyun is learning to live with it. The fact that Sungjong’s family is freaking loaded with money and the catering service is a solid 10/10 helps a little.

They’re all dressed semi-casually. A little more formal than what they usually wear to work, but without falling into the suit and tie cliché that is reserved for more important events, like the company’s anniversary or something. Woohyun is not sure if that is even a thing. After all, he’s just been working for the electronics company for a couple of months, which in all honesty, is more time that what he expected after he bumped into the Head of the Sales Department (capitalization necessary) and spilled all of his lunch (his mom’s Very Well Seasoned Barbecue Pork Ribs leftovers) over the both of them.

Swirling punch inside the cup, Woohyun cringes at the memory. Not only did he manage to smear the BBQ on the man’s neat suit, but also dropped the food container, spilled it around them, and caused them to slip into a pretty funny dance until they fell on top of each other.

This is all on video.

Sungyeol still shows it to him in a bi-weekly manner to remind him that Sunggyu might hate him for the rest of his life even though after that (Woohyun paying for the dry-cleaner’s included) they have crossed exactly zero (0) words. Perks of not being in the same department, he supposes.

After a sigh, Woohyun finishes his punch and glances around at the party. He hopes not to spot him, after all, making him angry at his cousin’s party would not only get him out of the company in a second, but also executed right on the spot. And then fed to the dogs by Sungjong himself for making a scene, or something.

Still looking around, he walks back to the punch table to see if he can get himself some more of those delicious swan-shaped pastries. The distraction, obviously, costs him a few precious seconds of reaction time before bumping into someone and nearly tripping before that someone catches him by the arm.

“Careful. I didn’t know the punch was spiked so soon.”

Guess who it is.

“No!” the tiny goblin of anxiety inside his brain yells. Woohyun widens his eyes. _No, no nononono!_

“S-Sunggyu,” he mumbles. In another reality, time stops and the camera spins around them as everything else blurs. In this, however, Woohyun just straightens himself. “I mean, Sir. Head of Sales Department. Your majesty. Yes.”

Sunggyu throws an open-mouthed laugh and Woohyun is not sure if he’s laughing at him or with him, but then again the last option sounds very unlikely, so he deflates.

“I mean, I’m sorry. I didn’t see where I was going,” he ends up saying, trying to move on with this conversation and getting his ass out of there.

Conveniently, Sungyeol passes by.

“Hey, would you look at that? Who put a mistletoe in there? It’s weird, very weird,” he says, pointing at the mistletoe hanging from a bunch of Christmas lights strung around a low part of the ceiling.

Sunggyu and Woohyun look up. “Oh.” they both say. Woohyun will never lend his stapler to Sungyeol again.

Before he has the time to tell that to his co-worker, however, he hears Sunggyu laugh again, this time more uneasily. Then, for some strange reason, the older man offers Woohyun his hand.

Woohyun blinks.

“Why don’t we settle for this?” Sunggyu says with the same condescension as a billionaire giving a couple of pennies to a beggar.

He blinks again.

After his brain shuts itself down and restarts, Woohyun throws in a fake laugh too. Being the easygoing guy he is, of course, Woohyun accepts the situation. So what if the man wants him to kiss his hand to fulfill some sort of sick power trip or whatever? It’s a party! And no one’s paying attention to them! (Sungyeol doesn’t count. He’ll deal with that demon later.)

So whatever, he grabs Sunggyu’s hand, trying not to think of how soft it is and _what lotion does he use?_ as he presses his lips to the pinkish knuckles and closes his eyes. Ah, yes, very soft.

Anyway.

Woohyun lets go and makes the mistake of looking back at Sunggyu, who is staring at him with his eyes widened, smile long gone. Woohyun Promptly Runs Away.

\--

“I tell you, it wasn’t that bad,” Sungyeol pats him in the back sometime later.

“Shake hands,” Woohyun says into his cup, perturbed. “He wanted to shake hands. And I kissed his hand.”

“Is it really that big of a deal?” Flanking him on the other side, Sungjong adds. The punch is certainly spiked by now. “I mean, wouldn’t it be the equivalent of like, showing your tummy as a sign of submission?”

They’re sitting down together near the band as a group of people is gathered together on the dance floor. So far only Sungjong and Sungyeol have been invited to dance. Woohyun has no luck in life.

“I might be scared of him,” Woohyun declares, “but I don’t want to show submission. That’s kind of lame, isn’t it? Especially in front of someone like him.”

I mean, he thinks, Sunggyu is so…

“Yeah, Sunggyu is too good for a guy like you,” Sungjong says as the three watch another group gather around a table.

“Right? I mean he’s so…” Woohyun starts. “Wait, what does that--”

“You guys!” Jiae from Marketing approaches them. “We’re playing a cup game in teams and we’re one person short, does any of you want to join?”

“Hey, why don’t you go,” Sungyeol tells Woohyun, nudging him to stand. Jiae immediately latches on to his hand. “Get a small win tonight. You’re starting to look desperate.”

“He’s right!” Jiae says, and in all honesty, Woohyun is a bit offended that she’s ready to admit that so easily as she drags him to the game table.

\--

Woohyun hates to admit when Sungyeol is right, which is more often than one would expect, but right now, he’s feeling pretty benevolent and will give it to his friend.

The games are fun, varied, and involve plenty of alcohol. Obviously not so much to get him wasted, after all he has to visit his family tomorrow, but enough to make the anxiety goblin shut up.

When Woohyun’s turn comes up, they decide to switch to a game that consists on using a whole packet of beer cups (empty, obviously) to make a pyramid by stacking the cups on top of each other in a way that when you put the last one on top you can undo the pyramid by rows diagonally and start again. The person who makes the most pyramids without dropping the cups in a certain amount of times is the winner.

Woohyun cracks his knuckles and stands in front of his blue cups without bothering to glance at his opponent, even though when the other person steps into place, a series of cheers and hoots start coming around from that side. He’s not here to make friends or be intimidated.

He is here to Win.

And win he does. The game’s pretty simple and, even though his hands are small, he’s fast and doesn’t drop a single cup or lets his pyramid(s) jiggle, which is more than what can be said about his opponent, who—Woohyun hears—accidentally knocks the pyramid off the table twice.

Except victory doesn’t feel that sweet when Jiae lifts his hand and his team erupts into cheers because, when he finally turns around to see who he just obliterated in the game, it turns out to be none other than the Almighty Kim Sunggyu.

(Woohyun takes back what he said about Sungyeol. That man only exists to torture him.)

Before he can say anything, though, his team pulls him to the side with congratulatory yells as other players take his place to play. He’s still busy panicking when they move on to the ongoing game and he takes that as a cue to get the hell out of there.

Then, Sunggyu intercepts him.

“Hey, wait,” he says, catching Woohyun roughly by the edge of his cardigan. “About that game… That was pretty cool. You were fast.”

Passing by, Kim Myungsoo from Human Resources yells, “Mistletoe!”

(Somewhere, Woohyun catches Sungyeol giving the handsome HR secretary a thumbs-up and swears revenge.)

They glance around to see the stupid plastic ornament on top of them, hanging from a lamp.

“How did they even get that up there?” Woohyun wonders aloud.

“Looks like it’s fated,” Sunggyu says. “Twice in a row.”

Woohyun looks back at him, feeling his ears go warm. With a casual cardigan and sneakers, Sunggyu looks less intimidating than… well, ever. Maybe Woohyun was too busy thinking of the ways he was going to die to notice. “Yeah.”

He decides to go with the usual bro-hug and throw in the kiss like it’s not even happening. It all plays very cooly on Woohyun’s mind, so he tries to stick to the plan. He doesn’t tell Sunggyu, however, which maybe is the root of the problem when Woohyun leans forward and ends up sort-of-but-not-really kissing the corner of Sunggyu’s mouth. (Tastes a little like beer and strawberry chapstick.)

When they pull back, Woohyun really, really tries not to think too hard about it. (Of the pink of Sunggyu’s ears, the glint of his eyes, the mischievous smile.)

Then, Sunggyu says, “Hey, you’re that BBQ guy, right? Woohyun?” and like a scratched record, Woohyun’s brain shuts down. “I can’t believe we’re only meeting after that time. Crazy, right?”

This time Woohyun really does run away.

\---

Finding his coat is easy. His wallet and his phone are in this pants’ pocket. He left his gloves but he’ll retrieve them later. (They’re lost forever). He walks quickly. Then he runs. The elevator takes too long. He gets in. He gets out.

Stupid, stupid Woohyun.

Sunggyu doesn’t hate him, obviously. He’s too high and mighty for that. Stupid Woohyun should’ve known, he thinks to himself as he hurries outside. For Sunggyu he’s only a funny anecdote, the story of a dumdum who dropped his BBQ sauce all over Sunggyu and then slipped and brought him down. A clown, basically.

And then Woohyun went and felt so happy after defeating him at that cup game, like he didn’t know Sunggyu was obviously so above those kinds of games that he probably _didn’t even try_. And then had the audacity to smile and congratulate him.

Stupid Woohyun, to think he was harboring a crush for that man.

“I’m going to need my gloves,” he mumbles to himself as he scrolls down on his phone to call a cab. Then, he swears.

A crush, he thinks with disbelief as both realization and the cold wind of December hit him right in the face with the strength of an anvil. An actual crush. This is brand new information to him.

Christmas sucks.

He considers going back inside after the call is over, teeth clattering, but the prospect of seeing Sungjong and Sungyeol and having to explain what happened or even worse, seeing Sunggyu again deter him from doing it.

Not that it matters because the person he least wants to see at the moment exits the building from the same place Woohyun came.

“Yeah, it’s right around the corner,” Sunggyu says to his phone, without having spotted Woohyun, and the man considers if hiding behind a dumpster would be too cowardly at this point.

Too late, though. Sunggyu’s eyes widen when he hangs up and sees Woohyun.

“Hey, it’s you!” Sunggyu says, a surprised smile on his face like he’s not about to wreck Woohyun’s very existence to its core.

Woohyun shifts in his place, not knowing where to put his hands, where to look, where to run off and jump on a bridge and just _die_. Why is the cab taking so long?!

“Yeah,” he says because he’s the most eloquent person ever. He tries to muster a smile, but half of his face refuses to cooperate, so he just grimaces. Hopefully that scares Sunggyu into not talking to him ever again.

“Why did you run off so fast?” Sunggyu asks, approaching him. “Ah, it’s so cold.”

Woohyun agrees, noticing the white mist around Sunggyu’s lips every time the man breathes through his mouth. “I just,” he shrugs, giving his brain some time to come up with an excuse, “thought the cab I called would be here or something.”

“Yeah, but I was in the middle of talking to you,” Sunggyu the Playground Bully punches him in the arm like they’re friends or something. Woohyun’s eyebrow twitches. The Nerve of this man

“I really don’t feel like talking about that,” he confesses. _I'm not in the mood to hear you mocking me,_ he adds in his mind.

“Why? It was funny,” Sunggyu says with a shrug.

Woohyun narrows his eyes. “You looked like you were about to murder me and wear my corpse for war.”

Sunggyu snorts, and this time it doesn’t look as menacing as the first time Woohyun heard it back at the beginning of the party. It’s kinda cute, to be honest, but Woohyun is trying very hard to stay angry.

“You did smear BBQ sauce all over my shirt,” Sunggyu concedes like that’s supposed to explain the nightmares Woohyun has been having of Sunggyu strangling him with his tie and looking very satisfied with it. (Which have been _nightmares_. Really. Nothing else.) “But when I watched the video, I realize it was pretty funny. And your face is hilarious.”

Woohyun makes an indignant sound. “My face? Have you seen  _yours_?” He crosses his arms, feeling his fingers go numb. “You do some weird thing with your eyebrows.”

He then begins to mimic it, with his nose furrowed and his eyes wide open, trying to do the weird wiggly-eyebrows thing that Sunggyu does in the video when he realizes he can’t scream Woohyun’s ears off. Sunggyu stares attentively at him while he does his best impression, and then erupts into laughter.

“I cannot possibly look like that,” he says, still laughing. His whole face has gone red by this point.

“You do, though!” Woohyun snorts, trying to keep his own laughter at bay.

“And what about you?” Sunggyu then twists his face into one of terror, with an open-mouthed grimace and eyes widened. “Look at me,” he says with a funny voice. “I’m Nam Woohyun and I’m about to be slam-dunked into the next dimension by my boss.”

“Hey! You’re not my boss,” Woohyun shoves Sunggyu, who has gone from making weird faces to laughing again.

Sunggyu rubs tears of laughter off his eyes. “You’re lucky I was not.”

“I know, I know. You would’ve fired me on the spot.”

“What? No,” Sunggyu shakes his head. “It was an accident. I would’ve loaded you with work for the next few months or something. I’m bad but not _that_ unreasonable.”

Woohyun clears his throat, no trace of laughter left. “I just thought…”

“Besides, you paid for the dry-cleaner’s and all. And you even took it to a fancy one!” Remembering the last part, Sunggyu grabs Woohyun with surprising conviction. “I never thanked you for that. You could’ve just asked me where I usually take my clothes.”

Woohyun rubs his face, frustrated with the new information dawning on him. After that, he feels a soft brush against his nose. Then another. And another. And soon, as he opens his eyes, white snowflakes start filling up his vision.

“Oh, it started snowing,” Sunggyu says, a bit of wonder in his voice as he looks around and offers his hand to the emptiness in front of him, which soon fills with snowflakes.

Time stops for a bit as they watch the snowfall, enveloped in silence. It even stops feeling as cold as minutes ago. In the distance, Woohyun hears the Carol of the Bells echo hauntingly.

Woohyun sees it then, bright and bold and unavoidable. Behind Sunggyu’s frame, a white billboard illuminated by three lamps showing a phrase about spending a good time together and a stock picture of a family making cookies. But that’s not only what is in the billboard. Among the cookie cutters, one stands out from the rest.

“Sunggyu,” he turns to the man, who’s still fascinated with the snow falling around him, and points to the billboard. “Isn’t that a mistletoe?”

Sunggyu looks at the sign, and lifts his eyebrows. “It is,” he laughs. “Isn’t marketing amazing? Mistletoes aren’t even native to anywhere except Europe and North America.”

Woohyun gulps, stepping forward into Sunggyu’s personal space. “It still gotta count, right?”

A car pulls into the driveway.

“Sunggyu laughs again, this time quieter, softer. Like he’s embarrassed. “You don’t have to do this,” he says. “You looked pretty uncomfortable the other two times.”

Woohyun shakes his head. “That’s because I thought you hated me,” he replies, grabbing Sunggyu by the arm. “I just realized a lot of things.”

Sunggyu’s eyes are shining, but maybe that’s just the taxi’s lights right in front of his face. Or the glow of nights just like this one, where snow falls and gives the city an otherworldly look.

“What things?” he mutters, like they’re sharing a secret.

Woohyun leans forward, his chapped lips finding Sunggyu’s instantly. It only lasts a second, but the way their bodies pressed together, as if they existed solely for the purpose of gravitating towards each other—that will stick to him for a long time.

“I’ll tell you at New Year’s.”

And with that, without sticking around to see what Sunggyu’s reaction is, Woohyun dashes off and gets into the car like coward he’s been all night and tells the driver to _go_.

Sunggyu stands there, blinking, when the car stops abruptly about five seconds later. Woohyun gets down, flushed and red and very embarrassed, and grabs his hand.

“Nevermind,” he says, dragging Sunggyu into the car. “I can’t wait that long.”

**Author's Note:**

> au in which sunggyu isn't thaaaaaat rude


End file.
